Typewriter cleaning device



g- 1, 1950 A. "I'HORENS 2,517,257

TYPEWRITER CLEANING DEVICE Filed June 10, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r Invent-or 5? Andr Thorems.

I! Abbormey Aug. 1, 1950 A. THORENS TYPEWRITER CLEANING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10,. 1948 Inverdlor Andre Thorens.

Ab l'orrzey Patented Aug. 1, 1950 TYPEWRITER CLEANING DEVICE Andre Thorens, Yverdon, Switzerland, assignor to Paillard S. A., Sainte-Croix, a corporation of Switzerland Application June 10, 1948, Serial No. 32,099

In Switzerland May 23, 1947 Claims. 1

Modern typewriters are always fitted with a casing intended to protect their mechanisms. This casing has generally a horizontal part arranged above the type bars. This horizontal part is generally situated approximately at the height of the writing line on the cylinder and has in its middle part an opening for the passage of the type bars when the keys are operated.

In the known typewriters, the casing stops at a certain distance from the cylinder and no separation at all is provided between the cylinder and the space occupied by the type bars and the various mechanisms of the machine. As a con sequence, dust and particularly india-rubber waste-when erasures are made-fall. directly into the mechanisms and there is a risk of their interfering with their proper working. So the known typewriter casings do not reach the de sired im or reach it only to a certain extent.

The present invention relates to a typewriter including a cylinder fitted on a carriage capable of moving transversally with respect to the machine frame and provided with a casing having a horizontal part protecting the type bars and situated approximately at the height of the writing line on the cylinder, this horizontal part having an opening intended'for the passage of the type bars when the keys are operated. This machine has a casing including an inclined wall linked to the horizontal part situated above the type .bars and so arranged as to separate the cylinder from the space containing the type bars and extending as far as below the cylinder, this wall leading to a gutter provided approximately in the vertical plane passing through the axis of the cylinder and intended to collect the dust and waste. This machine is in addition fitted with means causing an automatic cleaning of the gut er.

The attached drawing shows diagrammatically and by way of example a form of execution of the typewriter which is the subject of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view.

Fig. 2 is a simplified lateral view on a smaller scale.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view with portions broken. away.

Fig. 4 is a part cross-sectional view.

The typewriter represented by the drawing includes a cylinder I fitted on a carriage 2. This carriage is capable of moving transversally with respect to the frame of the machine. For this purpose rails or guides 3 are rigidly fixed to the frame and form runways for balls 4 mounted in H housings 5 provided in supports 6 the carriage 2.

The machine includes in addition a casing I encircling and covering the frame in such a way.

as to protect the mechanisms from the dust. This casing has an horizontal part 8 situated above the type bars (which are not represented) when said type bars are in their rest position. This part is interrupted at a certain distance from the cylinder and has an opening 9 in its middle part and intended for the passage of the type bars when the keys are operated.

An inclined wall Ill connected to the said hori-' zontal part 8 of the casing is arranged in such a way'as to separate the cylinder from the space containing the type bars. This wall Ill leads to a gutter H approximately situated in the vertical plane passing through the. axis of the cylinder. The opening 9 exists only on part of the height of the inclined wall H]. In order to allow the free displacement of the type bars, this wall has an embossing l3 situated in front of the opening 9. The most protruding part of this embossing is situated in the middle plane of the typewriter.

Finally, the gutter H is divided into two por "v tions which meet in the said middle plane of the machine and are inclined from this plane towards the side walls of the machine. Thus the highest point of the gutter is situated in the middle planeof the machine.

.The gutter I I includes a wall 12 adjacent to one of the rails 3 for guiding the carriage 2. The" space situated between the two rails is closed by an L-shapedwall so as to provide a free section sufficient for the passage of the carriage 2.

The rail 3 situated beneath the cylinder lies close to the rear wall l2 of the gutter l I. The L-shaped wall M has an opening Iii intended for the pas' sage of a ribbon H subjected to the action of a spring (which is not represented) and tendin'g to bring back the carriage towards the left part of the drawing.

From the above description and from examin ing the attached drawing, one can see that the space delimited by the frame and containing the mechanisms and the type bars is entirely closed IE] slide along said wall and. are collected in the rigidly fixed on:

gutter II. The latter being divided into two portions inclined from the middle plane of the machine towards the lateral sides of said machine, the waste slides under the influence of the typing vibrations nd is evacuated.

Finally the mechanisms (transmission parts, escapement, etc.) which are situated under the cylinder and extend towards the rear part of the latter, are entirely separated from the carriage and from the cylinder by the L-shaped wall 14 linking together the two rails 3, of which one lies close to the rear wall l2 of the gutter l I.

In the alternative design shown by Figs. 3 and 4, one finds again the inclined wall E of the casing which leads to the gutter ll approximately situated in. the vertical plane passing through the axis of the cylinder l. The bottom ll of this gutter is situated in a horizontal plane parallel with the axis of the cylinder I. This cylinder is carried by a carriage 2 capable of moving with respect to the frame E5 of the typewriter thanks to a guiding device including rails 3 and ii between which are imprisoned balls i.

A cleaning device for the gutter l! is fixed to the carriage. This cleaning device is consti tuted by a small brush 28 rigidly fastened to an element E; of the carriage. brush is preferably situated in the middle transversal plane of the carriage so that during the typing work, it sweeps the gutter it over its length, but one could also provide two cleaning parts fixed to the carriage and arranged in such a way with respect to each other that the gutter would be cleaned over all its length.

Practical tests carried out with a typewriter fitted with a cleaning device such as described above have shown that it is of advantage to provide the gutter ll with a perfectly smooth bottom and to arrange things so that the face it? of the cleaning part shall be situated quite closely to this bottom it, but shall not be in actual contact with the latter.

' Indeed, when the face iii of the cleaning device touches the bottom ll, some india-rubber waste remains caught and rolls between these two surfaces lfi and H during the displacements of the carriage but is never evacuated. On the contrary, when there is a slight distance between these two surfaces, the india-rubber waste is pushed and evacuated, so that the gutter being continuall swept by the cleaning device during the typing work, owing to the displacements of the carriage, no accumulation of waste or dust can take place, these being evacuated as soon as they fall into the gutter ll.

Thus indie-rubber waste can no longer pass through the slot ll existing between the wall it of the gutter and the rail 3 and cannot become a hindrance to the proper working of the mechanical parts of the typewriter.

Two forms of execution of the typewriter which is the object of the invention have been described herein by way of example and with. reference to the attached drawing, but it is obvious that the various elements and parts described can easily be replaced by their equiva lents.

Thus the cleaning device here represented under the form of a brush could be replaced by any other cleaning device such, for instance, as a felt.

I claim:

1. In a typewriter including a cylinder carwhole ried by a carriage, type bars and a casing protecting the said type bars, the casing having an opening in its middle part and permitting the passage of the type bars on their way to strike the cylinder, an inclined wall fastened to the said casing and extending as far as below the cylinder and separating the latter from the space containing the type bars, a gutter at the lower edge of the said inclined wall and intended to collect dust and india' rubber waste, this gutter being approximately situated in a vertical plane passing through the rotefion axis of the cylinder, and means for automatically cleaning the gutter.

2. In a typewriter in accordance with claim 1, in which the means for automatically cleaning the gutter comprises two gutter portions inclined from the middle towards the sides of the typewriter, the bottom of the gutter being flat and smooth so that by the vibrations caused by the operation of the typewriter, said waste and dust are automatically evacuated.

3. In a typewriter in accordance with claim 1 and in which the means for automatically cleaning the gutter comprises a gutter-cleaning device fastened to the carriage of the typewriter.

Typewriter in accordance with claim 1, in which the bottom of the said gutter is flat and smooth and parallel with the axis of rotation of the cylinder, the means for automatically cleaning the gutter comprises a gutter-cleaning device fixed to the carriage of the typewriter, and

of which the lower surface is situated at a slight distance from the bottom of the gutter, but does not actually touch the bottom of the gutter.

5. In a typewriter including a cylinder carried by carriage, type bars and a casing protecting the said type bars, this casing having an opening in its middle part and permitting the passage of the type bars on their way to strike the cylinder, an inclined wall fastened to the said casing and extending as far below the cylinder and separating the latter from the space containing the type bars, a gutter fastened to the lower edge of the said inclined wall and intended to collect dust and india-rubber waste, this gutter being approximately situated in a vertical plane passing through the rotation axis of the cylinder, rails on which the carriage moves, an L-shaped wall interconnecting the said rails, the whole so arranged as to separate the cylinder from the space containing the typewriter mechanisms protected by the said casing and which extends towards the rear part of the typewriter as far as below the said cylinder, and means for cleaning the gutter provoking an automatic cleaning of the latter during the operation of the typewriter.

ANDRE THORENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 962,616 Briggs June 28, 1910 1,544,064 McNeal June 30, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 563,640 Great Britain .Aug. 23, 1944 

